Availability of Data on Specific Celestials (Heaven vs Hell)

[naraht]

Consider the following two situations.

A group of Angels comes upon a scene where several Soldiers of God have been killed using Cheese in ways that no one has seen before. The group of Angels want to find out from Heaven any information on a Demon of Cheese. To my thinking a cel-tongues request to an angel in Heaven (especially a Jeanite, Trader or a Destinarian, but not limited to) should be able to get a fairly complete history of the Demon of Cheese (Superior, possible band attunements, possible songs, word abilities, last seen location, etc.) dropped off for pickup at a local tether with a Senechal. Total "cost" would be no more than 10 essence at the outside.

A group of Demons comes upon a scene where several Hellsworn have been killed using Cheese in ways that no one has ever seen before. The group of Demons wants to find out from Hell any information on an Angel of Cheese... Where do they go from there? And is there any chance that it will cost them as little as the equivalent for the Angels?

Does anyone let this difference show up in their campaigns?

Randy

[johndallman]

If the party contains servitors of a Superior with an intelligence organisation, it gets easier. This is a very useful aspect of servitors of The Sword, and War/The War are also capable at this. The Game ... might help, but they'll have an agenda.

[Dalillama]

I'd adjudicate that heavily by Superior: If a Michaelite asked about the Demon of Cheese, they'd get a pretty thorough briefing from War's intelligence service. If a Creationer asked, they'd get quite a lot of information about cheeses and cheesemaking, which might include information about the Demon of Cheese and might not. If a Jordite asked, they'd get a rant about the treatment of domestic cattle and the general weirdness of adult mammals eating milk products, followed by a huffy disconnect.

On the Infernal side, Haagenti's people would know all about the angel of Cheese and tell his Servitors if they asked, as would Baal. The Game probably knows, but they'll only tell you as much as they think you need to know, which is probably less than you think you should know. Andrealphus knows about erotic uses of fondue, but that's as much info about cheese as a Lustie's going to get.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

On the Infernal side, Haagenti's people would know all about the angel of Cheese and tell his Servitors if they asked, as would Baal. The Game probably knows, but they'll only tell you as much as they think you need to know, which is probably less than you think you should know. Andrealphus knows about erotic uses of fondue, but that's as much info about cheese as a Lustie's going to get.

And for Nybbas, "cheese" is something that gets ratings despite its quality, not because of its quality - so answers from The Media are less than helpful.

You'd probably get a useful answer at the Guildhall of Free Lilim - if they got a reputation for jerking around their clients, they'd get no repeat business - but You Will Owe Them A Favor.

[johndallman]

Beleth's people will tell you to eat several pounds of cheese, then visit the Dreamlands. Belial's fondue recipe ... is not helpful. But it's a lot safer than Vapula's.

[naraht]

I just pulled Cheese out as an example, I'm looking more for general feelings on how "free" information like that is in Heaven vs. Hell.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by naraht

I just pulled Cheese out as an example, I'm looking more for general feelings on how "free" information like that is in Heaven vs. Hell.

I know. I was trying to go with the example for my response. What I meant was that the availability of information will likely vary widely by Superior, although it's probably freer in Heaven than Hell (E.g., Everyone knows what the Servitors of Litheroy know, but no-one knows what demons of Secrets know), but even in Heaven, if you work for Michael, and the Novalites are the ones who have the info you need, you might well be out of luck.

[Archangel Beth]

I'd say it depends a lot on what the GM wants to see Hell as. Is Hell moderately cooperative in a "we hate each other but we're all being run by the same secret police" way? Then you may well be able to get someone who can file a request with the Game, the War, or Fate and get the data for a modest amount of Essence expenditure.

If Hell is a bunch of squabbling fiefdoms that only barely manage to cooperate when they absolutely must, then the information -- and its price -- is going to be trickier. It will depend on what Prince(s) the demons serve, what their relationship is with their superior (little-s), what their relationship is with any Seneschals or other higher-ups in the area (who might know stuff), what their relationship is with the Game/Fate/the War... If they know any Lilim who could ask around...

Honestly, I'd personally give a fairly substantial time-delay to angels, as well -- they can probably get the information by talking to Lightning/Destiny/the Sword/War/Trade (Mercurian; likely keeps tabs on people decently well), if they don't get lucky with their immediate little-s superior, local Seneschals, etc. But getting the information in a prompt fashion may not happen if their Heavenly contact in Flowers has to deal with Sparkies giving her the brush-off till she smacks her wing down and says, "No, this is important on Earth! It's not a party game trivia question!"

But I tend to see Heaven as just a bit squabbly amongst themselves as well. O;>

[Flyndaran]

I doubt superiors like underlings breaking the chain of command, even when it's necessary.

[Matthias Wasser]

There's also the fact that 1) angels are just inherently better at gathering information in the first place, and 2) Hell's information is getting constantly corrupted. On the other hand, Heaven probably has a much more effective censorship regime as well.

The Archives may act as a repository of "public" Infernal information that Fate shares for its utility to the War. But it's still going to get corrupted.